OUR VIRUS DRUG TRIALS

GEELONG SIGNS UP: Plan to test malaria, HIV treatments on local COVID-19 patients

GEELONG coronavirus patients could be treated with anti-malarial and HIV drugs, after Barwon Health joined a major international clinical trial investigating potential COVID-19 remedies.

CORONAVIRUS patients could be treated with antimalarial and HIV drugs, after Barwon Health joined an international clinical trial investigating COVID-19 remedies.

The AustralaSian COVID-19 trial (ASCOT) project plans to recruit patients in more than 70 hospitals across Australia alongside 11 hospitals in New Zealand.

Health services are preparing to tackle potential outbreaks as coronavirus restrictions are eased.

Patients and researchers at Barwon Health are set to be part of the trial, aimed at testing the effectiveness and safety of two drugs — lopinavir/ ritonavir, which is used to treat HIV, and hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, also used to treat arthritis — as potential treatments.

US President Donald Trump has drawn criticism for championing hydroxychloroquine when it was unproven.

Barwon Health infectious diseases specialist Dan O’Brien said while there were no treatments with established effectiveness for COVID-19, the trial would test multiple promising options.

“We will be testing whether these drugs can effectively and safely improve a patient’s condition so that we can avoid the need for a ventilator and intensive care,” Associate Professor O’Brien said.

“Aside from finding a vaccine, the way out of the COVID-19 situation is to find an effective treatment so that if you are diagnosed, a medication will prevent you from getting very sick or dying.

“As the benefit of these drugs is not yet proven, the ASCOT trial will randomly assign some voluntary patients to one of the drugs, some to both of the drugs and some to a standard of care without the drugs, which will determine whether they are useful and safe.”

He said the beauty of the trial for the Geelong region was it would allow patients a chance to access potentially lifesaving treatments that would not otherwise be available, because the medications are only approved in a clinical trial setting.

“There is always small risk in these trials, so it is completely voluntary and there is close monitoring for sideeffects,” Prof O’Brien said.

The trial kicked off at the Royal Melbourne Hospital last month, where patients were screened for recruitment.

The World Health Organisation considers the drugs promising treatments, but more research is needed to be sure they are safe and effective according to, Associate Professor Steven Tong, a Royal Melbourne Hospital infectious diseases clinician and co-lead of clinical research at the Doherty Institute.

There were no known active coronavirus cases in the G21 region yesterday, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

For information on ASCOT, visit ascot-trial.edu.au